Paris Basketball's elder statesman was everything his team needed on and off the court.
Tribute to the Champs: Bandja Sy
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No player wants to hear he is the oldest member of the team, but Bandja Sy handled that role with purpose. In a young club, and on a team packed with players who were either playing their first BKT EuroCup season or were teenagers just recently – or both – Sy was brought in last summer for his much-needed experience.
Sy played that role just as head coach Tuomas Iisalo had hoped, but no mistake, he did all the work on the floor, too.
At 33 years of age and in his seventh season in the competition, Sy finished with personal-high totals in just about every statistical category. In nine starts among his 22 appearances, and despite averaging just 19 minutes per game, Sy set his personal EuroCup career marks in points (132), three-pointers made (19), two-pointers made (30), free throw made (15), rebounds (59), assists (16), steals (14) and PIR (170).
What's more, Sy was an instrumental part of Paris's early-season success. A brand new team that was building chemistry, with players getting acquainted with the competition, Sy had several performances that helped the team start the season unbeaten through seven games.
He had 10 points on 4-for-4 shooting in a 75-81 road win at Umana Reyer Venice. Then Sy posted 11 points on 5-for-5 shooting plus 6 rebounds, 3 steals and a block in a 102-106 overtime road win over London Lions, finishing with a PIR of 21, just 2 shy of his career high. Sy also shined as Paris drubbed Hapoel Shlomo Tel Aviv in Round 6, scoring 13 points on 5-for-6 shooting along with 5 rebounds and 2 assists in a 114-87 victory. Sy had five double-figure scoring games this season, and finished averaging 6.0 points, 2.7 rebounds and 7.7 PIR.
He also finished the season as a deserving BKT EuroCup champion.